A business broker is a person who is paid to buy and sell business entities, comparable to a real estate agent who buys and sells homes for their clients. Becoming a business broker does not require an extensive amount of education, but you should have industry experience and you must be certified to begin buying and selling businesses in many states. To receive this certification, you must go through the necessary training. This sounds tedious, but with the availability of online programs, earning your certification is no problem.
A Certified Business Broker program, or CBB, is one you can find online. You may expect a two-year program, or even longer, to teach you everything you need to know and gain you the certification. However, there are CBB programs available today that are only five months in length. How does that sound to begin or enhance your business brokerage career? There are a few tools you are equipped with upon signing up for an online program. The two most important are a 28-page study guide and multimedia study aides. These aides come in the form of video screen captures, which are available once you register to begin the program.
All kinds of people sign up to earn their business broker certification. You may fit into one of the classic categories. If you are looking to further your education in the field of business brokerage, this is the perfect opportunity. You may be a new business broker professional working with a consulting firm or management company. If you envision yourself climbing quickly up the corporate ladder, your business broker certification will allow you to make this vision a reality. Perhaps you never saw yourself entering this business, with the discovery of new opportunities to improve your knowledge and expertise, you have decided to go against your original ideas and pursue a career in business brokerage after all.
Earning your business broker certification does not require any previous degrees or work experience. However, this does not mean the program is easy. In fact, the best programs available today are considered quite challenging. Whether you work for a company and want to earn a higher salary or receive and increased amount of recognition at work, completing a program will do that for you. Not only that, but as your knowledge in the field increases, so will your skills and confidence on the job.
By: Rafael Tassini
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Filed under Business by on Nov 20th, 2010. 
For business owners and professionals, gauging how their business card stands out from the stack of pile is critical. Competition, after all, is stiff these days, so it is crucial to know how your card stacks up against competition.
Initially, business cards originated in the 15th century in China. Over the years, many other business owners learned of the Chinese calling cards and adopted them. Eventually, these cards landed on US soil in the 1890s. These days, you can’t find a business and working person that don’t have his own card. In the past, people simply buy some cheap paper and print their contact information on it in black and white. But today, everybody is hooked in the trendy and fashionable way to showcase ones contact details.
Even the rich and famous celebrities, business tycoons, and politicians once used simple business cards. Here are some of them with their first business card:
1. Bill Gates. Back when Bill Gates was not yet famous, he uses this simple business card to hand out to potential clients. The red and yellow card contains simply his name, position and address. Microsoft was still located in Albuquerque that time.
2. Steve Wozniak. He is co-founder of Apple Computer, Inc. His card is one of the coolest cards today. It is made from high quality stainless steel and features laser cut details.
3. Craig Newmark. The man behind craiglist.com has a business card that looks the same as his website. The card templates are simple, neat, and organized. A classic example of a simple yet effective business card.
4. Eric Schmidt. As the Chairman of Google, naturally we expect to a lot of this guy. But there seems to be some minor glitch in his card with Chairman spelled as Chariman. Well, this just points out that everyone, even the CEO of the Google, needs to spell check once in a while.
5. Donald Trump. Who doesn’t recognize this man? This American business magnate is one of today’s millionaire ranked in 488 in the world. Aside from his inheritance and real estate, Trump makes a sizable income from his TV show “The Apprentice”. Also, he earns as much as a $1 million for a single appearance in a lecture alone. Other sources of his income include cologne and bottled water. Even though his name is all over the place these days, Trump still has a handful of his cards to give to anyone unfamiliar with him.
6. Walt Disney. Before founding Walt Disney Company, Disney was a cartoonist. His very first business card, way before he was made famous of his mouse cartoon, was from Laugh-o-gram Films.
7. Barack Obama. The most powerful man in the United States today, Obama can have any card design he desire. But as of now he has yet to produce his presidential card. But when he was still a senator he did have a simple yet professional looking business card.
These famous people have their card in their wallets at all times. They may be famous and successful, but still they trust on the marketing power of business cards. They still carry their cards with them anywhere they go. You might want to do the same to stay on top and get ahead of your competitors.
By: Michelle Abreu
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Filed under Business by on Nov 20th, 2010.
Whether you have your own business or work in a business organisation, it always pays to have a good grasp over managerial aspects. This is possible by having a thorough knowledge of business management. Today a number of management courses are offered in different institutions of the world. Having done a suitable business management course will definitely give you an edge. These courses give you a proper knowledge of various aspects of a business like administration, marketing, hiring, people management and more. Knowledge makes you confident and also enables you to stay afloat in the market for a long period of time.
A course which focuses on various activities related to business is beneficial for any kind of business. This is because the courses teach you different ways to manage business. You can use the skills you are taught at all times, whether you are starting a business or already running a business. Additionally, these courses will brush up the skills which you already have.
Even if you are not a fresher and already have some amount of experience in the field of business, it would be a good idea to take these courses. The times change constantly and these courses help you to stay updated. Unless you are knowledgeable about how a business functions, you can never succeed in a business venture. On the other hand you also need to have a fair idea as to how the social media dictates the business world. Accordingly, you need to develop your knowledge base.
The best way to give yourself an edge is by learning about all the aspects of business and not just focussing on one particular area. At the same time, you can very well specialise in one stream after having made an extensive study of all the subjects. But an elementary knowledge of all the aspects is imperative to having a thorough knowledge of managing a business.
When it comes to a management training course there are a lot of options. You can go for classroom coaching or even opt for an online course. You will be surprised to see that there are some institutes which offer free courses to people through pod casts and web videos. For many people, this might be an exciting option but the problem with free courses is that they do not offer you a degree. If you are opting for a free online business management course, you can watch the lecture podcasts at any time of the day suitable to you. This is really convenient for working professionals.
When you undergo a standard management training course you can be sure of the fact that you would be developing knowledge about a lot of factors related to business. Some business courses would offer you with a wide variety of options and subjects to choose from. The number of choices can go up to as high as 70 and from these you can choose the elective which suits you and your need the most.
By: Luke Raper
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Filed under Business by on Nov 19th, 2010.
Businesses all over the world have changed during the last decade or so. With the advent of internet and the development of some unbelievable software products, the world has changed into a big shopping complex. It is no longer possible to run a business organization in isolation.
Acquisitions and mergers are the order of the day in business community. Even traditional business rivals are joining hands through mergers and acquisitions to take their business to new horizons in this rapidly changing business scenario. The recent news about Microsoft’s attempts to buy one of its main competitors Yahoo is an excellent example of this kind of business expansion.
Business organizations talk about business expansion usually when the company is doing well in its original field of business. Business expansion can be starting a new branch in some other city, starting the operations in a new domain, increasing the employee strength, implementing new technology or acquisition of some other organization in a related field or in the same field. Business expansion is something that should be done with great care and after a good deal of research. There were cases in history where acquisitions and ill-advised forays into an entirely unfamiliar domain have destroyed smoothly running companies.
Generally, business expansion does wonders to the development of an organization. It provides an additional impetus to the organization to do well in every field. It provides a sense of confidence and well-being in the minds of the employees and investors, which should reflect well in the balance sheet of the company. Also, when an organization opens a new branch or increasing the employee strength, the productivity level will surely increase. It provides more options to the organization to do a particular job. This kind of news will surely give the customers a strong sense of confidence to deal with the organization. Another important aspect of business expansion is the effective utilization of funds. If there is a good opportunity to do a particular kind of business at a particular time, somebody is going to do it. So if an organization spots an opportunity, it is better to go for it rather than sitting on the fund, content with the existing business.
However, business expansion is not a sure-fire recipe for further success for any organization. The most vital aspect is the risk involved in the new action. If new branches are added and new people are recruited, if the company does not receive expected business and orders the new facilities and recruits will render useless. So it is important to know the business climate of the time, before proceeding with expansion plans. Another potentially disadvantageous aspect of business expansion is that the company may lose focus on the existing business. When all the energy is concentrated on business expansion plans, it is easier for the existing business to drift down unnoticed.
By: Ian Pennington
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Filed under Business by on Nov 19th, 2010.
How long have you been craving a life of luxury? A life of conducting a business from the comfort of your own home, making massive amounts of money? Is this something that’s on your mind a lot of the time?
If so… then this article is probably a great find for you. Let me explain why.
First of all though, there’s something that you need to realize. Most people think that when you work from – or run a business from the comfort of your home, you get to just sit around doing basically nothing. The fact of the matter is that there’s a lot of work to be done to run a successful business. There’s no free ride, and you should go about your search for business opportunities with that in the forefront of your mind, or else you’ll end up very discouraged when it comes time to actually run it.
Okay, now that all of the bubble bursting is over with (sorry), it’s time to tell you the good news. The good news is that if you are willing to work hard at building a foundation…down the road in just a few years – maybe less – you could very well get to a point where you can relax more and more as time goes by.
Now, to do so, you need to be looking at certain types of business opportunities and not wasting your time with others. The type that gives you the best chance at being able to have to do less work as time goes by, is with a business model that allows you to leverage the effort of other people. Therefore the greatest thing you can do for your future success right now is find a great network marketing company and go to work with people who are successful and will teach you how they’ve achieved their success.
The company that you choose should feature superior products in a market where people keep buying consistently. One of the best markets for this is the health and nutrition market. Here’s why. First of all, the world is aging. Baby boomers in the US are just starting to come to the age where there health is a huge concern for their quality of life. So, they’re very happy to dig into their wallets and spend money on products that actually work to improve that quality of life for them. However they want convenience as well. They certainly don’t want go around popping pills anymore or mixing up shakes. There are plenty of those types of products out there, especially in the network marketing industry.
You need a product to market that is new and innovative, tastes good (most products taste like chalk), and something they can take on the run – because today everybody is in a hurry and time is one of the most precious elements in our lives. Now having the ability to build a work-at-home business for yourself is wonderful and you’ll want to access lots of great MLM resources to put together and align with the best MLM marketing plan that there is around for you!
You also need a company where you get phenomenal training from people who have already succeeded greatly in this industry. Put it this way…you can find tons of people in network marketing to work with, there’s surely no shortage of people who would be willing to take you. However, most of those people haven’t even succeeded themselves, and therefore have no way of teaching you to succeed. You’d be just as lost as they are once you’ve started, and therefore would be floundering with a lot of disappointment. Not the way that you want to start.
Your better bet is to find people to partner up with that are actually more reluctant to take you as a partner because they have a long list of people wanting to work with them – simply because they’re so successful themselves, and have a system that works and works extremely well (hence their success).
Does that make sense to you at all? I hope so! Searching for business opportunities is a tedious task. Searching for business opportunities anywhere is a pain in the neck actually. But here’s where your day starts looking up.
Right now there are tremendous companies taking hold of the health and wellness market because they have a product just like the one described above. They are looking to partner up with folks in willing to work their ***** off to achieve their dreams. They want people who are tired of searching through countless business opportunities and finally buckle down and start running a successful business.
By: David L. Feinstein
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Read more on Business Opportunities: Finally the Truth About Running a Successful Business!…
Filed under Business by on Nov 19th, 2010.
Writing a Business Proposal for the first time can be difficult. To make this easier we’ve compiled this list of best practices for developing your next proposal. You can use this checklist to ensure that your next Proposal covers all the requirements and makes the right impression with the funding agency.
Business Proposal Writing Best Practices
Understanding of Requirements – confirm that you have addressed all the requirements as listed in the Request For Proposal and the supporting documents. Industry Knowledge - demonstrate awareness of the business sector and show this with relevant case studies and white papers that illustrate your knowledge. Reference Projects – give examples with the cost value, project length and core technologies used in for other projects. This gives the client more confidence that you have expertise in the areas they wanted addressed. Strategic Fit – Explain how the different methodologies align with the client’s procedures, strategy plan, and vision statement. Technical Requirements - show that you understand their technical requirements by addressing and responding to each requirement. Make sure to avoid clichés and answer each point so there is no ambiguity in your response. Confirmation – make sure that you agree to accept their procedures, practices and the conditions of the contract should you be awarded it. Proposed Solution – Show how the system you propose to develop will work by providing business scenarios and process maps. Screen Mockups – provide mockups of the main screens and other parts of the system with screenshots and wireframes. This helps the reader understand how the system will work by seeing a visual representation. Cross-reference – make sure you cross-reference all requirements against the RFP and to the site map if you use mockups. Warranty Period – one way to make the buyer feel more comfortable is to offer a warranty period so if any issues arise with the product/solution or services, you agree to fix them within this time period. Service Level Agreement – another way to reduce the buyer’s anxiety is to offer a Service Level Agreement (SLA) outlining how you will respond to these issues within agreed time periods. Project Management – State the expected project risks, High/Medium/Low impacts and the contingencies you will put in place. Change Control - Give an example of how you will deal with Change Control and the methods you will use to control documents, source code, and project materials. Percentage of Personnel - state the percentage of personnel allocated to the project, for example, 50% of your team for stage one, 75% of your team for stage two, 100% of your team for stage three. Client Resources – outline the human resources required from the client. Break it down by work-days. Don’t be ambiguous, for example, by saying there will be ‘an on-going need for access to staff’. Show the client when and where you will need access to their team members.
By: Ivan Walsh
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Filed under Business by on Nov 18th, 2010.
Business brokers help you in the sale and purchase of businesses. They charge fees for providing brokerage services. The fees depend on the size of the business, the final sale and the purchase price. There are different business brokers for dealing with different kind of businesses. For example, some of them might specialize in mergers, and others in acquisitions. Apart from the fixed fee, most of the brokers also charge commissions. The commission can be computed on the basis of the selling or purchase price of the business. The larger the price, the greater the leverage to negotiate commission rates with a business broker.
If you have sold your business or purchased a new one you might feel you don’t need the help of a business broker, especially if you know the prospective seller or buyer well. But if you are entering a new industry, buying or selling a big business, or do not know the buyer or seller you are dealing with, then a business broker can be of great help. Business brokers not only help in negotiating and taking one through the complete transaction, but they have a wide range of contacts. They could find you a better deal through these contacts.
Business brokers are good at making discreet inquiries in the market to find potential buyers or sellers, and a much higher price than what you are presently being offered. If you have a small business to sell, you might not be able to get in touch with a big company which you see as a potential buyer. But a business broker could do that. They are in touch with most of the big corporations. In fact, some of the business brokers specialize in dealing only in small businesses. The list of business brokers in your area could be available either online or at the local chamber of commerce.
By: Steve Valentino
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Filed under Business by on Nov 18th, 2010.
Three phases need to be completed for a business turnaround and include a first, emergency phase to try to ensure survival, followed by a stabilisation phase which includes a thorough look at any fundamental changes needed to achieve a viable business and finally the growth phase to secure its future on solid foundations.
It is vital that the main objectives of each stage are completed before going on to the next one. This needs a clear understanding from all those involved of the objectives of each phase. The focus of activity changes throughout the process from hoarding cash, terminating contracts and limits on spending while trying to survive in the emergency phase is very different to funding marketing activities, new processes, training and other efficiency related initiatives during a stabilisation phase.
The aim of the turnaround process is to achieve a viable company that can survive, which is different from the insolvency process, which is aimed at putting a business in the best shape to sell the assets and liquidate the company.
The first phase can be likened to triage and is similar to the actions usually carried out by a paramedic at the site of a traffic accident. The paramedic’s job is to stabilise the situation so that the injured can be moved to the surgeon (if needed) who would carry out the second phase of dealing with the damage.
Phase 1 of a turnaround is therefore about arresting decline and saving the business. It requires decisions to optimise survival and a total focus on becoming cash positive as quickly as possible by only paying essential suppliers and liabilities.
It is far easier to do this with the help of a turnaround adviser to take an objective look at the business, and help strip it down to the essentials to achieve what in essence is a viable business, one that is cash flow positive and profitable.
Once the adviser has had a detailed look at the accounts and the business operation to establish the essentials they can then also put together a proposal for ensuring that there is sufficient cash flow to deal with the immediate situation in a way that will allow the business to continue trading while a strategy is being prepared for the next phase.
It will depend on the state of each individual business what the adviser will suggest to stabilise the situation but there are a number of tools that can be used.
However, it is likely that they will identify and prioritise those suppliers and liabilities that are key to put the company on a more secure footing so that it can continue to function.
For example, a company uses materials critical to its production and imported from China, but they are held up at the docks because it has been paying other bills rather than paying the freight forwarder, so in order to survive by having stock, paying the freight forwarder’s bill has to be a top priority.
In another illustration a company with a turnover of
Read more on A Successful Business Turnaround Involves Completing a Three-Phase Process…
Filed under Business by on Nov 18th, 2010.
Your business depends on customers to survive. Advertising and marketing strategies can become expensive, and some tactics turn out to cost you more money than the revenue that they generate. Business networking can cut your advertising expenses significantly while growing your customer base. You also do not have to be a good salesperson to network effectively, Just be yourself.
Networking is a good skill for any business owner to have, and knowing where to network can be just as important. Sure, family and close friends can help promote your business and be a great resources of referrals, but ideally you want to expand your network. Getting involved in community activities, volunteering at charity events and joining your local Chamber of Commerce are all ways of growing your network.
Volunteer and Get Free Advertising
Not only can volunteering be rewarding, it can also bring you new customers and referrals. Choose a charity that you like or an activity that you enjoy and participate as much or as little as you want. You can join more than one group and even participate in one-time or annual activities, like city or school fundraisers.
If your line of work involves a specialized skill like website design, event planning or construction work – see if you can share your skill and expertise to assist with the organization’s activities. This is an easy way to introduce your skills to others and become the “go to” person in your trade. Volunteer Match is a website that lists charity activities and event by type and location.
Networking Groups Make Marketing Fun
Networking groups do not necessarily have to be business-focused. In addition to being involved in trade and industry groups, there are alumni groups, sports and activity groups, volunteer organizations, social clubs and even regional associations. Meeting people with common interests makes it easier and more fun to network, so you do not have to feel like you are constantly marketing.
You can get involved in a very active group or one that meets less frequently, like once a month. Rather than simply showing up to group activities, you will be able to “market” yourself more easily by volunteering to be a chairperson or leader of some sort. The more effort you make, the more others will want to make an effort on your behalf.
Use the Internet with Business Social Networking and Other Sites
Social media is growing fast – and no wonder! This method of communication enables people to reach many people very quickly and stay in touch easily for very little cost. Whether you build your social media network around your business or other interests, you can use this popular strategy to casually inform visitors and followers about what you do for a living.
The key is to avoid blatantly promoting your business all the time. You do not have to share what you ate for breakfast every morning either. Share ideas, thoughts and news that will likely interest others and encourage them to return back or become a subscriber.
Websites like Face book, Linked In and Twitter are all online communities where you can connect your business. There is no cost to sign up and no computer experience is required to use these services. Some lesser known sites that are good for reaching other business owners include Focus, Tribe and Networking for Professionals.
Let people get to know you as a person while also informing them of what you do without throwing out a sales pitch. When you are involved in group activities and events, you can demonstrate to others that you are reliable, skilled, easy to work with, trustworthy, friendly, etc.. Interestingly, these are all traits that someone wants in a business relationship, which is one of the reasons business networking can work so well.
By: Sue Barrett
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Read more on Business Networking: How to Network and Gain New Customers…
Filed under Business by on Nov 17th, 2010.
Whereupon you maintain your own company, governing the cash flow may become a massive burden. Regardless of how smoothly you approach it, there are many stages during which you require money immediately and literally do not possess the working capital in your cash reserves. At those times, business cash advances may be a relief. Although there may be several options for an established business with perfect credit, many new businesses or those with a lack of credit are now able to get working capital thanks to alternative financing models such as credit card factoring.
To receive financing in today’s economy, you get two fundamental choices: You may either ask for a business loan at a savings bank or go into business cash advances with a small business financing representative. Whereas the commercial bank path is more conventional, it does demand some formidable restraints.
At the start, it incorporates a good amount of time to achieve the loan. After that, it demands a mass of sworn statements and documentation of all types. Ultimately, payback agreements are fixed, which denotes that if you experience a rough month at your corporation, you might find yourself dashing to resolve your balance.
Doing business with representatives who provide business cash advances as opposed to a conventional business loan is commonly considerably easier. To be approved for factoring through your merchant account you generally need four months in operation and have been securing credit card transactions the whole time. Your credit report is not ranked, which is a true asset if you have run into any quandaries formally. Your payback is a small allotment of the monthly credit card proceeds, which means it sways according to your volume. If you have a barren month you provide a smaller amount, on a great month, you spend a little extra.
Business cash advances are feasible from as little as $5,000 to as high as $500,000 per locality. You can obtain your capital in as quick as 10 days in many circumstances, and an acceptance in under 24 hours. Now that is a substantial advantage!
By: Daniel Samoohi
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Filed under Business by on Nov 17th, 2010.